Coach Tony Elliott was caught on the TV cameras yelling at guys on the sidelines multiple times.
Illinois won the game, 24-3, and it wasn’t nearly as close as the score or stats would indicate.
Virginia not only lost the game, but the Cavaliers let themselves be defeated.
It was over early
The way this one was going to play out was clear midway through the first quarter.
It looked, briefly, at the outset, like it was going to be a big day for the ‘Hoos. Anthony Johnson intercepted Tommy Devito’s first pass attempt of the game, on the Illini’s second play from scrimmage, setting up Virginia in plus territory after an Illini personal foul.
But the Illini D forced a quick three-and-out, with Armstrong, who would finish 13-of-32 for 180 yards and two INTs on the day, under pressure on second down and third down, overshooting Dontayvion Wicks on both passes.
Wicks would put up the most mind-boggling statistical day you may ever see from a wide receiver. Armstrong targeted Wicks 16 times on the day; Wicks recorded just two catches, for 23 yards.
Yikes.
Illinois turned it over again on its second possession, on a Chase Brown fumble, setting up UVA at the Illini 32.
The first-down play was a run left, over left tackle McKale Boley, a true freshman who struggled in his first college start last week in the win over Richmond.
Boley missed his block, and Perris Jones, who ran for 104 yards last week, was tackled for a four-yard loss.
A false start on Derek Devine made it second-and-19, and after an Armstrong incomplete pass intended for Lavel Davis Jr., a 17-yard pass to Keytaon Thompson at least got the Cavaliers into field-goal range.
Brendan Farrell was good on the low knuckleball from 42 yards to put Virginia on top.
The teams then traded three-and-outs, ahead of what would be the game-changing play.
A Hugh Robertson punt sent Billy Kemp IV to the UVA 12 to field the ball. Instead of taking a fair catch, Kemp broke a tackle at the 10, tried to reverse field, and was caught inside the 5, where Sydney Brown punched the ball free, and it bounced into the end zone, recovered by Matthew Bailey for an Illinois touchdown.
That rookie mistake by the fifth-year veteran made it 7-3 Illinois with 5:38 to go, and whatever momentum Virginia’d had from the two early takeaways was gone for the rest of the day.
Another Virginia three-and-out was followed by a quick three-play, 57-yard drive, with Devito connecting with Michael Marchese on a 39-yard catch-and-run TD that made it 14-3 with 3:35 left in the first.
Another Virginia three-and-out preceded a four-play, 69-yard Illinois drive that hit paydirt with a Devito-to-Tip Reiman scoring pass, and the rout was on.
The rest of the game was a slog for Virginia, which could only manage nine yards of total offense in the first quarter, six yards in the third quarter, and got most of its 222 yards on the day on a handful of chunk plays – a 62-yard pass from Armstrong to Davis that led to a missed Farrell field goal, a 31-yard pass from Armstrong to Thompson that led to a turnover on downs, and a 31-yard scramble by backup QB Jay Woolfolk that led to a failed fourth-and-goal pass from Armstrong to Wicks in the game’s final minute.
There was nothing redeeming for the Virginia side to take home from this one, literally nothing.
Offense
The offensive line committed four penalties and allowed five sacks, six QB hurries and nine tackles for loss.
Armstrong developed the happy-feet syndrome early, understandably, and was throwing off his back foot even when there wasn’t pressure, or much pressure, underthrowing tight end Grant Misch on an otherwise well-executed reverse flea-flicker that should have gone for a touchdown in one notable instance.
The receivers, by and large, couldn’t get open, because like Armstrong, they had no time, but Wicks, a projected mid-round NFL draft pick, had issues with his hands, by my count with three drops, though we’ll see what the official count was tomorrow.
It’s nothing short of startling that Armstrong was 2-of-16 for 23 yards throwing to Wicks.
Thompson had a good day at wideout: five catches on six targets for 62 yards.
Davis had two catches on six targets for 67 yards.
The ground game gained a net 42 yards on 29 tries, though that total includes 27 yards coming off because of a bad shotgun snap from Ty Furnish that had measurable hangtime, and the 39 yards of sack yardage.
Still, that would work out to a meager 108 yards on 23 attempts, and 49 of those yards were QB scrambles.
Jones, after the 100+-yard game last week, had just 26 yards, on just seven carries.
So much for all the talk about trying to have balance.
The play-calling by offensive coordinator Des Kitchings was suspect. It was obvious that the line was having trouble blocking the Illini front seven, but Kitchings kept having Armstrong drop back in the pocket on five-step drops, resulting in him throwing into pressure on it seemed like every pass.
It would have helped to get a call or two from the officials on the Illinois secondary, which was allowed to be overly physical with the Virginia receivers well downfield, with only two calls going against the Illini defense in pass coverage all day, both in the final two minutes.
Defense
Illinois ended up gaining 394 yards of total offense, not a bad bottom line for the Virginia D, but the damage was done early.
The Illini had 164 yards in the first quarter, and scored on a short TD pass on the first play of the second quarter.
From there, the UVA defense held its own, and it was able to force four turnovers, three of them starting the offense in plus territory.
The run defense, which gave up 170 yards to Richmond last week, allowed 198 yards to Illinois, with Chase Brown gaining 146 yards on 20 attempts.
Devito finished 17-of-25 for 196 yards, two TDs and one INT, and a 152.3 passer rating.
Langston Long led the ‘Hoos D with 13 tackles, eight of them solos, and had one tackle for loss.
Nick Jackson had nine tackles, four solos, and one sack.
Antonio Clary had seven tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Anthony Johnson and Chico Bennett Jr. each had six tackles. AJ had the INT, and Bennett had a sack.
The other sack went to Kam Butler, who executed a nice strip sack that set up the offense on the plus side of midfield late in the second quarter, to no avail.
Next up
Virginia hosts ODU, which beat Virginia Tech last week, and at this writing is on its way to a loss at East Carolina.
The UVA-ODU game is set for an odd 2 p.m. start time on the little-watched ACC Network.
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Chris Graham
